DOMESTIC  USE  OF  OIL  AMONG  THE  SOUTHEPIJ  ABORIGINES 


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THE  DOMESTIC  USE  OF  OIL  AMONG  THE  SOUTHERN 
ABORIGINES 


By  Herbert  B.  Battle 


[Reprinted  from  the  American  Anthropologist,  Vol.  24,  No.  2,  April- June,  1922.] 


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THE  DOMESTIC  USE  OF  OIL  AMONG  THE  SOUTHERN 
ABORIGINES  1 

By  HERBERT  B.  BATTLE 

OIL  and  fats  are  very  closely  allied  in  their  chemical  relations 
and  their  domestic  uses,  as  well  as  in  their  other  properties, 
and  the  two  can  not  well  be  treated  separately.  Basally 
they  consist  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen.  Less  funda- 
mentally they  are  chemical  combinations  of  glycerin  and  certain 
acids  among  which  may  be  mentioned  oleic,  palmitic,  and  stearic 
acids.  If  oleic  acid  predominates  in  the  compound  it  is  liquid 
and  forms  what  we  know  as  oil.  If  palmitic  or  stearic  predomin- 
ates, it  forms  what  we  know  as  fat.  This  brings  us  to  other 
properties  of  these  compounds,  and  we  can  subdivide  them  into 
those  of  vegetable  and  those  of  animal  origin,  with  hquid  and  solid 
properties  at  ordinary  temperatures.  Oils  and  fats  of  this  charac- 
ter differ  essentially  from  the  oils  of  mineral  origin,  such  as  petro- 
leum, from  which  are  produced  mineral  lubricating  oils;  we  are 
not  concerned  with  these  latter  in  the  present  paper.  Mineral 
oils  when  heated  distill  off  without  change  of  properties,  while 
animal  or  vegetable  oils  when  heated  are  decomposed  with  the 
loss  of  their  properties  and  chemical  nature. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  very  important  property  possessed  by 
some  of  these  oils  of  absorbing  oxygen  from  the  air,  with  a  resul- 
tant change  of  their  properties,  and  especially  one  which  causes 
a  hardening  in  their  nature.  This  fact  gives  us  the  drying  oils 
such  as  linseed,  the  non-drying  oils  such  as  peanut,  and  the  semi- 
drying  oils  such  as  cotton  seed.  For  obvious  reasons  the  drying 
oils  are  used  at  the  present  day  in  paint  mixtures.     The  non- 


^  Presented  at  a  meeting  of  the  Alabama  Anthropological  Society  held  March 
10,  1921,  at  the  aboriginal  cemetery  at  the  mouth  of  Pintlala  Creek,  in  Lowndes 
County,  Alabama.    The  author  is  a  member  of  the  American  Oil  Chemists  Society. 

171 


172  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.s.,  24,  1922 

drying  oils,  as  well  as  the  semi-drying  oils,  are  very  widely 
employed  because  they  are  edible,  and  because  of  the  faciHty 
with  which  they  can  be  further  used  in  producing  solid  food,  such 
as  margarine,  butter,  etc.  These  oils  are  varied  considerably 
owing  to  the  fact  that  they  may,  and  do,  contain  one  or  more 
combinations  of  the  oleic,  stearic,  or  palmitic  acid  with  glycerin. 
For  example,  the  semi-drying  cotton  seed  oil  contains  mainly 
the  glycerin  combination  with  oleic  acid,  as  well  as  with  stearic. 
The  latter,  when  the  oil  is  chilled  by  cold,  becomes  visible,  settles 
away  from  the  oleic  acid  solution,  and  becomes  sohd,  dissolving 
however  when  the  oil  is  warmed,  and  forming  again  the  original 
liquid.  Animal  fats  contain  a  preponderance  of  stearic  acid  with 
glycerin,  and  are  accordingly  solid  at  ordinary  temperatures. 
They  also  contain  the  oleic  combination  in  proportion,  varying 
according  to  the  source  of  fat.  This  property  gives  fat  its  oily 
touch  and  greasy  effect. 

Before  leaving  the  chemical  portion  of  the  subject  it  should  be 
stated  that  it  is  easy  to  separate  these  oily  and  fatty  combinations 
with  glycerin  by  the  action  of  caustic  of  soda  or  potash,  or  by 
heat  or  mineral  acid.  The  glycerin  can  then  be  preserved  by 
appropriate  means.  Its  uses  are  well  known;  among  other  com- 
pounds it  forms  the  powerful  explosive,  nitro-glycerin.  When 
oils  are  decomposed  by  caustic  of  soda  or  potash,  another  resultant 
compound  is  formed  which  we  know  as  soap,  it  being  the  oleate, 
stearate,  or  palmitate  of  soda  or  potash.  The  composition  is 
easily  formed  from  materials  of  domestic  origin,  but  the  Indians 
did  not  know  of  this  possibility.  By  leaching  domestic  ashes 
with  water,  the  necessary  caustic  of  soda  and  potash  is  secured, 
and  by  boiling  with  refuse  fats  from  the  domestic  kitchen,  or  oils 
that  are  saved  in  various  ways,  a  good  quality  of  soap  can  be 
made  in  an  ordinary  boiling  pot.  The  preparation  of  soap  in  this 
way  was  not  known  even  to  the  ancient  Romans,  and  the  mighty 
Caesar,  while  using  the  luxurious  baths  of  his  period,  had  to  be 
content  with  a  rubbing  down  with  oil  with  which  ashes  were  mixed. 

The  general  chemical  properties  of  oil  are  as  follows:  Specific 
gravity  0.91  to  0.94,  insoluble  in  water,  hot  or  cold,  but  soluble 
in  various  ethers,  chloroform,  carbon  tetrachloride,  and  turpen- 


battle]  the  domestic  USE  OF  OIL  173 

tine.  Some  of  these  facts  were  unconsciously  taken  advantage  of 
by  the  Indians  in  ways  that  will  be  described  later. 

It  is  rightly  to  be  supposed  that  any  uses  to  which  our  southern 
aborigines  applied  the  oils  at  hand  could  not  have  been  other  than 
the  most  primitive.  Their  mode  of  living  would  not  admit  of 
any  advanced  uses  of  these  substances,  or  even  a  full  knowledge 
of  the  simplest  properties  which  they  possessed.  What  they 
learned  about  them  was  due  to  almost  self-evident  facts,  which 
came  to  light  in  connection  with  their  daily  customs.  Also  the 
sources  for  obtaining  such  oils  and  fats  were  those  which  com- 
monly presented  themselves  in  their  regular  pursuits,  and  they 
went  no  further  in  their  search. 

The  oils  and  fats  used  by  them  were  as  follows: 

1.  Oils  and  Fats  of  Animal  Origin.  The  principal  and  almost 
the  entire  source  for  these  fats  was  the  black  bear  (Ursus  Ameri- 
caniis),  which  was  found  throughout  the  whole  Southern  region. 
The  nature  of  this  animal  caused  him  to  put  on  a  large  amount  of 
fat  during  the  summer  and  fall  in  order  that  he  might  go  into 
winter  quarters  with  a  sufficient  supply  to  last  him  until  warm 
weather  appeared.  Consequently,  taken  at  the  proper  season, 
these  bears  produced  large  quantities  of  oil  and  fat,  as  well  as 
exceptionally  good  meat  for  food.  Other  wild  animals  furnished 
similar  material,  but  it  is  certain  that  bears  were  the  principal 
source  of  animal  fats.  ''Bear  ranges"  were  left  by  the  several 
adjacent  tribes  for  the  exclusive  propagation  of  these  animals; 
there  no  towns  were  allowed  and  all  hunted  in  common.  Such 
a  bear  range  extended  from  Line  Creek,  between  Montgomery 
and  Lowndes  Counties,  Alabama,  as  far  as  the  Chattahoochee 
River.- 

2.  0/75  and  Fats  of  Vegetable  Origin.  These  were  almost 
exclusively  from  native  trees,  such  as  the  black  walnut  {Juglans 
nigra),  and  the  hickory  nut  {Hickoria  alba)  known  now  in  some 
localities  as  "mocker  nut."     Also  the  shell-bark  hickory  nuts 


-  A  paper  on  this  subject  was  read  by  Mr.  Peter  A.  Brannon  at  an  earlier  meeting 
of  the  Society.  During  the  exploration  at  Pintlala  just  before  the  presentation  of  this 
paper  a  well-preserved  half  of  the  lower  jaw  bone  of  a  bear  was  unearthed,  with  well- 
preserved  teeth. 


174  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.s.,  24,  1922 

{Jiiglans  exultata)  were  sometimes  used.  The  live  oak  {Quercus 
Virginiana)  ^-ields  acorns  which  were  considered  of  great  impor- 
tance, and  were  much  resorted  to.  Bartram^  during  his  travels 
through  this  region  in  1773-1776  describes  this  source  as  follows: 

The  trunk  of  the  Live  Oak  is  generally  12  to  18  ft.  in  girth,  and  rises  10 
or  12  ft.  from  the  earth,  then  divides  itself  into  three  or  four  or  five  great 
limbs  .  .  .  sometimes  to  a  distance  of  fifty  paces  from  the  trunk  .... 
It  bears  a  prodigious  quantity  of  fruit;  the  acorn  is  small,  but  sweet  and  agree- 
able to  the  taste  when  roasted,  and  is  food  for  almost  all  animals.  The  In- 
dians obtain  from  it  a  sweet  oil,  which  they  use  in  the  cooking  of  hominy, 
rice,  etc.,  and  they  also  roasted  it  in  hot  embers,  eating  it  as  we  do  chestnuts. 

The  black  walnut  furnished  the  most  desirable  of  all  these  oils, 
and  the  earhest  writers,  notably  those  who  accompanied  De 
Soto  in  1539-41  through  this  region,  were  impressed  with  its  uses, 
and  often  referred  to  it.    Ranjel ^  writes  of  it  as  follows: 

It  was  Saturday,  the  5th  of  June  that  they  entered  Chiaha,  and  since 
all  the  way  from  Xuala  had  been  mountainous  and  the  horses  were  tired  and 
thin,  and  the  Christians  were  also  themselves  worn  out,  it  seemed  best  to 
tarry  here  and  rest  themselves,  and  they  were  given  an  abundance  of  corn,  of 
which  there  was  plenty  of  good  quality,  and  they  were  also  given  an  abun- 
dance of  corn  cakes,  and  no  end  of  oil  from  walnuts  and  acorns,  which  they 
knew  how  to  extract  very  well,  which  was  very  good  and  contributed  much 
to  their  diet,  yet  some  say  that  the  oil  from  nuts  produces  flatulence.  How- 
ever, it  is  very  delicious. 

The  Gentleman  of  Elvas,^  describing  the  stay  of  the  explorers 
at  this  village,  in  another  narrative  written  at  a  later  date,  men- 
tions additional  facts  as  follows: 

On  the  fifth  of  July  the  Governor  entered  Chiaha.  The  Cacique  received 
him  with  great  pleasure  .  .  .  and  .  .  .  the  Governor  answered  him  that 
his  gifts  .  .  .  pleased  him  greatly.  .  .  .  There  was  abundance  of  lard  in 
calabashes  drawn  Hke  olive  oil,  which  the  inhabitants  said  was  the  fat  of  the 
bear.  There  was  found  likewise  much  oil  of  walnuts,  which  like  the  lard  was 
clear  and  of  good  taste,  and  also  a  honeycomb,  which  the  Christians  had  never 
seen  before,  nor  saw  afterwards,  nor  honey  nor  bees  in  all  the  country.* 

In  early  times  the  black  walnut  was  found  everywhere  in  the 
interior,  and  in  fact  the  Indians  were  in  the  habit  of  growing  these 
trees  near  their  towns  either  by  transplanting  or  raising  them  from 

« Bartram,  Travels,  London,  1792,  p.  8. 

*  Narratives  of  De  Soto,  New  York,  1904,  vol.  ii. 
s  Ibid.,  vol.  I,  p.  74. 

•  This  notable  fact  is  also  confirmed  by  Biedma. 


battle]  the  domestic  USE  OF  OIL  175 

seed.  This  indeed  was  almost  universally  practised,  and  even  now 
we  find  trees  growing  on  these  old  sites.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  the  original  trees  set  out  by  the  Indians  are  still  living,  but 
that  the  ones  found  there  are  seedlings  from  them.  They  were 
originally  planted  in  straight  rows,  and  even  now  they  exhibit 
the  same  straight  lines.  Three  such  trees  are  on  the  site  of  old 
Fort  Toulouse. 

Preparation  of  Oils  and  Fats 
There  are  three  ways  in  use  at  the  present  time  of  obtaining 
oils  and  fats  from  the  living  things  which  produce  them. 

1.  By  Rendering.  This  is  separation  by  means  of  boiling  in 
water  or  steaming,  which  melts  out  the  oils  or  fatty  materials. 
These,  being  Hghter  than  water,  rise  to  the  surface,  and  can  be 
dipped  off  or  allowed  to  flow  to  suitable  vessels  for  cooling  and  for 
further  purification. 

2.  By  Extraction.  This  method  is  by  the  use  of  certain  hquid 
solvents  which  dissolve  the  oily  or  fatty  materials  very  thoroughly. 
The  next  step  is  to  distill  off  the  solvent  and  to  recover  it  for 
future  uses,  leaving  the  oil  alone  and  in  a  purer  form.  In  this 
there  is  always  danger  of  contamination  from  the  solvent,  and 
a  consequent  effect  upon  the  flavor  of  the  oils  or  fats. 

3.  By  Pressing.  This  is  the  standard  way  in  use  at  the  present 
time  in  the  manufacture  of  all  oils  in  use  in  the  cotton-seed  oil, 
and  peanut  oil  mills  in  this  region.  The  meats  or  kernels  from  the 
nuts,  after  being  removed  from  the  hulls,  are  either  pressed  whole 
or  rolled  or  ground  by  means  of  suitable  machinery,  hydraulic 
or  otherwise.  Then  the  meats  are  either  heated  or  pressed  cold, 
the  latter  plan  securing  the  better  quality  of  oil,  but  yielding  a 
much  smaller  output.  Pressing,  however,  leaves  a  high  per- 
centage of  oil  in  the  residual  cake,  something  like  7  per  cent,  and 
this,  of  course,  is  lost  as  oil,  though  it  is  of  value  in  the  cake,  which 
is  ground  and  used  as  stock  food. 

Ancient  Preparation  of  the  Oils 
x^s  was  to  have  been  expected,  all  mechanical  processes  among 
the  Indians  in  their  every  day  operations  were  of  the  most  primi- 
tive kind.     The  nuts  must  be  cracked  and  the  kernels  or  meats 
must  somehow  be  extracted  from  the  shells.     All  of  this  neces- 


176  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.s.,  24,  1922 

sarily  required  laborious  work,  which  fell  usually  to  the  women. 
The  maize  or  corn  was  broken  and  ground  in  a  large  wooden  mor- 
tar, made  from  a  section  of  a  tree  in  which  a  cavity  had  been 
burned  out  to  sufficient  depth.  The  pestle  was  also  of  wood,  and 
some  feet  in  length.  This  operation  was  carried  on  while  standing. 
The  nuts  on  the  other  hand,  being  harder,  required  a  harder 
surface,  and  more  time  was  required  to  break  them.  This  was 
done  by  means  of  another  stone  called  a  "hammer-stone."  In 
many  cases  the  hammer-stones  are  of  granular  quartz  somewhat 
easily  disintegrated,  chosen  for  the  reason  that  the  rough  surface 
would  not  slip  from  the  nut  when  pounding  it.  It  is  more  than 
likely,  nay,  almost  certain,  that  the  labor  of  the  children  of  the 
towns  was  used  to  crack  the  nuts.  The  large  flat  stones  called 
"nut  stones"  contained  small  cavities  which  were  formed  by  ham- 
mering out  with  another  more  pointed  stone.  We  find  these  at 
almost  every  village  site." 

The  hammer-stone  was  not  difficult  to  secure,  because  stones 
of  the  required  shape  can  easily  be  found  in  beds  of  streams, 
already  rounded,  and  in  many  cases  pointed  by  the  water's  action. 
The  nut  stones  oftentimes  have  more  than  one  cavity,  in  some 
cases  as  many  as  five.  In  this  way  five  nuts  can  be  cracked  almost 
as  quickly  as  one  or  two.  Jones, ^  in  referring  to  these  nut-stones, 
says: 

Their  cavities  are  so  located  that  one,  two,  three,  five  and  sometimes  more 
nuts  could  be  cracked  at  a  single  blow  delivered  by  means  of  the  circular  flat 
crushing-stones  so  common. 

To  separate  the  oil  from  the  cracked  nuts,  whether  walnuts, 
hickory  nuts,  or  acorns,  the  Indians  knew  but  one  way,  the  first 
method  above  described.  They  boiled  the  cracked  portions  in 
water  without  separating  the  meats  from  the  shells,  in  a  suitable 
pot  which  had  also  been  made  by  the  women.  This  caused  the 
separation  of  the  oil,  and  owing  to  its  lower  specific  gravity  and 
insolubility  in  water  it  rose  rapidly  to  the  top  and  was  skimmed  off 
and  stored  in  pots  of  suitable  size  provided  with  covers.     This  is 

'  Later,  a  number  of  excellent  specimens  of  nut-stones  and  hammer-stones  were 
found  near  the  place  of  meeting  and  served  to  illustrate  these  references. 

*  C.  C.  Jones,  Jr.,  Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians,  New  York,  1873,  p.  318. 


battle!  the  domestic  USE  OF  OIL  177 

described  by  Jones  ^  in  quotin";  Ranjel,  Hariot,  Bossu,  and  Law- 
son. 

The  Southern  Indians,  especially  those  resident  upon  the  rich  valleys  of 
the  interior,  devoted  no  little  time  and  attention  to  agriculture.  With  them 
maize  was  emphatically  the  staff  of  life.  Upon  its  nutritious  properties  they 
rehed  both  during  its  milky  state  and  when  dry.  .  .  .  Generally  beaten  in 
a  mortar,  it  was  either  boiled  for  hominy  or  mixed  with  hickory  nut  milk, 
walnut  oil,  or  fresh  bear  fat,  was  baked  into  bread  or  fried  as  cakes. 

In  combination  with  corn  flour  and  when  fried  in  fresh  bear's  grease,  it 
(starchy  extract  from  smilax  roots)  made  excellent  fritters. 

Walnuts  and  hickory  nuts  were  diligently  collected,  cracked  and  boiled 
in  vessels,  when  the  oil,  which  rose  to  the  surface,  was  skimmed  off,  and 
carefully  preserved  in  covered  earthenware  jars.  This  oil  was  highly  es- 
teemed in  the  preparation  of  their  corn  cakes.'" 

Bartram^^  also  described,  in  1773-76,  the  general  practice  for 
securing  the  nut  oil.  The  unsettled  oily  portion  was  used  in  the 
nature  of  milk  or  rich  cream. 

I  have  seen  above  an  hundred  bushels  of  these  nuts,  shell-barked  hic- 
cory  .  .  .  stored  up  by  one  family  [of  the  Creeks].  They  pound  them  to 
pieces,  and  then  cast  them  into  boiling  water,  which  after  passing  through 
fine  strainers,  preserves  the  most  oily  part  of  the  liquid;  this  they  call  by  a 
name  which  signifies  hiccory  milk.  It  is  as  sweet  and  rich  as  fresh  cream, 
and  is  an  ingredient  in  most  of  their  cookery,  especially  homony  and  corn 
cakes. 

How  THE  Oils  and  Fats  Were  Used  by  the  Native.- 

In  order  of  importance  the  various  uses  of  oils  and  fats  were 

as   follows:  first,   as   food;   second,    in   paints;   third,   in   leather 

making   or   the   treatment   of   skins;   fourth,   for   bodily   health; 

fifth,  in  hair  dressing;  sixth,  for  the  rubbing  and  polishing  of 

ornaments  and  implements. 

1.  As  food.    This  use  is  of  more  importance  than  all  the  others. 

To  the  historical  references  already  given,  the  following  may  be 

added,  mainly  from  Jones  ^-  who  also  states  that 

Under  the  term  walnut,  the  historians  probably  included  not  only  the 
nut  which  we  designated  by  that  name,  but  also  the  varieties  of  the  hickory 
nut  with  which  the  country  abounded. 


'Jones,  op.  cit.,  p.  44. 
'"  Bartram,  op.  cit.,  p.  38. 
"  Bartram,  loc.  cit. 
1^  Jones,  op.  cit.,  p.  316. 


178  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  [n.s.,  24,  1922 

Biedma "  says,  'In  the  province  [Chiaha]  where  we  began  to  find  the 
towns  set  about  with  a  fence,  the  Indians  get  a  large  quantity  of  oil  from 
walnuts.'  At  various  points  reached  during  the  progress  of  the  expedition 
walnuts  were  found  stored  in  the  granaries  of  the  natives. 

Cabeca  de  Vaca  '^  asserts  that  these  nuts  ground  with  a  small  kind  of 
grain,  furnished  subsistence  for  two  months  in  the  year. 

Jones  ^^  also  v^rites: 

Among  the  natives  in  Louisiana  the  walnut  was  so  important  that  the 
thirteenth  moon  was  called  the  walnut  moon,  and  it  was  during  that  month 
that  they  cracked  their  nuts. 

Again,  referring  to  the  uses  made  of  walnuts  by  the  Virginia 
Indians,  Hariot^^  says: 

They  break  them  with  stones,  and  pound  them  in  mortars  with  water  to 
make  a  milk,  which  they  use  to  put  into  some  sorts  of  their  spoonmeat. 

Again  Jones  says: 

Bernard  Romans  "  assures  us  that  the  Florida  Indians  used  hickory  nuts 
in  plenty  making  from  them  a  milky  liquid  of  which  they  were  very  fond, 
and  which  they  ate  with  sweet  potatoes. 

It  is  interesting  to  record  the  fact  that  the  Hon.  W.  T.  Robert- 
son, former  mayor  of  Montgomery,  has  told  the  writer  that  he 
recalls  that  a  Negro  woman,  a  former  slave,  often  employed  this 
same  process,  pounding  the  nuts  in  a  mortar  and  grinding  with 
water  to  secure  a  milky  emulsion  with  the  oil  in  the  nuts  which 
was  very  palatable.  This  slave  was  famihar  with  many  of  the 
native  medicines  and  remedies  for  the  treatment  of  the  sick,  and 
oftentimes  was  able  to  cure  loathsome  diseases  that  had  been 
given  up  by  white  physicians. 

Such  was  the  extent  of  the  oil  manufactured  by  the  natives, 
that  it  became  an  article  of  commerce  soon  after  the  arrival  of 
European  traders,  and  w^as  regularly  exported.  Bartram  men- 
tions meeting  a  caravan  of  pack  horses,  carrying  skins  filled  with 

1'  Narratives  of  the  Career  of  Hernando  de  Soto,  Smith's  translation,  New  York, 
1871,  p.  90. 

"  Relation  of  Alvar  Nunez  Cabe^a  de  \'aca.  Smith's  translation.  New  York,  1871, 
p.  90. 

1*  See  Du  Pratz,  History  of  Louisiana,  London,  1763,  vol.  ii,  p.  195. 

"  A  Brief  and  True  Report,  Frankfort,  1590,  p.  18. 

"  Romans,  Natural  Histor}-  of  East  and  West  Florida,  New  York,  1775,  p.  68. 


battle]  the  domestic  USE  OF  OIL  179 

oil,  bound  for  the  Atlantic  coast.  In  1798-9,  Hawkins  in  his 
"Sketch  of  the  Creek  County,"  records  the  trading  value  of  a 
bottle  of  oil  of  hickory-nut  to  be  75  cents,  when  at  the  same  time 
pork  was  $4.00  per  cwt.,  which  would  make  a  bottle  of  this  oil 
equal  nearly  19  lbs.  of  pork.  The  trade  bottle  of  that  day  was  the 
whiskey  bottle,  of  very  heavy  glass,  black  in  color,  squat  in  shape, 
and  with  a  very  deep  deceptive  depression  under  the  bottom.  Its 
capacity,  originally  possibly  a  quart,  had  dwindled  to  1^  pints. 
It  is  of  record  that  an  Ohio  soldier,  in  training  at  Camp  Sheridan 
in  1918,  unearthed  on  the  Connelly  place  near  Montgomery,  one 
of  these  bottles,  actually  containing  some  of  the  oil. 

2.  In  paints.  In  ceremonies  and  for  personal  adornment,  as 
well  as  for  some  of  their  utensils  and  implements,  the  Indians  used 
paints  to  satisfy  their  desire  for  display.  The  base  of  all  paint 
is  a  ground  mineral  or  ore,  mixed  with  some  Hquid  material  to 
cause  it  to  be  retained  upon  the  surface  on  which  it  is  applied. 
This  process  was  known  to  the  natives,  and  they  used  water,  oil,  or 
grease.  For  permanency  the  last  two  were  used.  They  ground 
the  mineral  bases  in  cavities  of  hard  fiat  stones  of  compact  nature 
similar  to  those  employed  for  cracking  nuts,  and  they  also  used 
stone  pestles  in  the  same  manner.  The  colors  were  red,  black, 
vermilion,  brown,  yellow,  and  white.  Most  of  these  colors  were 
obtained  locally,  from  iron  ores  or  various  clays,  or  else  were 
secured  by  trade  from  Indians  of  other  regions.  After  the  colors 
were  ground,  oil  was  mixed  in  and  ground  again.  For  applying 
the  paint,  we  may  well  suppose  that  brushes  were  readily  thought 
of  and  used,  consisting  of  hair  or  bristles  from  the  bear,  deer,  or 
other  animals.  Lawson  ^^  refers  to  the  Indians  of  North  Carolina 
as  follows: 

Moreover  they  buy  Vermillion  of  the  Indian  Traders  wherewith  they 
paint  their  Faces  all  over  red,  and  commonly  make  a  Circle  of  Black  about  one 
Eye,  and  another  Circle  of  White  about  the  other,  whilst  others  bedawb  their 
Faces  with  Tobacco-Pipe  Clay,  Lamp-black,  black  Lead  and  divers  colors. 
....  It  is  impossible  ever  to  know  an  Indian  under  these  colors  although 
he  has  been  in  your  Home  a  thousand  times.  ...  As  for  their  Women,  they 
never  use  any  Paint  on  their  Faces  [What  a  commentary  on  the  present!]. 


"Lawson,  History  of  Carolina,  London,  1714. 


180  AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST  .  [n.s.,  24,  1922 

The  earthenware  pots  were  often  painted  of  a  solid  color,  and 
others  perhaps  decorated.  Broken  portions  of  pots  of  solid  red 
color  are  found  at  the  present  time  in  burials,  and  on  the  surface, 
the  former  particularly  showing  the  color  still  well  preserved. 

3.  In  Leather  Making  or  the  Treatment  of  Skins.  To  preserve 
the  skins  of  the  wild  game  for  their  own  uses,  whether  for  adorn- 
ment or  personal  wear,  or  for  protection  in  sleeping  and  so  forth, 
was  the  Indian's  first  desire.  Strange  to  say,  they  were  in  many 
places  acquainted  with  the  action  of  certain  barks  to  better 
preserve  the  skins  of  deer  and  bear,  although  they  did  not  know 
the  reason  therefor,  and  leather  by  tanning  was  thus  made  in  a 
prirnitive  fashion.  Jones  ^^  tells  as  follows  of  the  method  of  doing 
this: 

/  They  prepared  their  skins  by  first  soaking  them  in  water.    The  hair  was 

/  then  removed  by  the  aid  of  a  bone  or  stone  scraper.  Deer's  brains  were  next 
''  dissolved  in  water,  and  in  this  mixture  the  skins  were  allowed  to  remain 
until  they  became  thoroughly  saturated.  They  were  then  gently  dried  and 
while  drying,  were  continually  worked  by  hand  and  scraped  with  an  oyster- 
shell  or  some  suitable  stone  implement  to  free  them  from  every  impurity 
and  render  them  soft  and  pliable.  In  order  that  they  might  not  become 
hard,  when  exposed  to  rain,  they  were  cured  in  smoke,  and  tanned  with  the 
bark  of  trees.  Young  Indian-corn  beaten  to  a  pulp  answered  the  same 
purpose  as  the  deers  brains. 

Lawson^''  describes  the  practice  of  the  Carolina  Indians,  as 
he  found  them,  as  follows: 

They  wear  shoes  of  Bucks,  and  some  of  Bears  skins,  which  they  tan  in 
an  Hour  or  two,  with  the  Bark  of  Trees  boil'd,  wherein  they  put  the  Leather 
whilst  hot,  and  let  it  remain  a  little  while,  whereby  it  becomes  so  qualify'd  as 
to  endure  Water  and  Dirt  without  growing  hard. 

A         Salt  is  used  at  the  present  time  in  drying  out  the  skin,  when  it 

I  is  desired  to  preserve  the  hair,  by  rubbing  on  its  under  side.    This 

I  ^  dries  out  the  raw  skin,  causes  the  constriction  of  the  hair  folHcles, 

and  so  prevents  the  hair  being  lost.    After  being  dried,  it  is  worked 

by  hand  to  make  it  pHable,  and  finally  it  is  rubbed  down  with  oil 

in  order  to  make  the  quahty  permanent. 

Without  doubt  this  plan  was  in  use  by  the  Gulf  Coast  Indians, 


1'  Jones,  op.  cit.,  p.  62. 
^°  Lawson,  op.  cit. 


battle]  the  domestic  USE  OF  OIL  181 

and  probably  others.     IMention  is  made  by  the  Gentleman  of 
Elvas-^  of  an  experience  at  Cayas,  in  the  present  State  of  Texas: 

The  salt  is  made  along  by  a  river,  which  when  the  water  goes  down,  leaves 
it  upon  the  sand.  As  they  cannot  gather  the  salt  without  a  large  mixture  of 
sand,  it  is  thrown  together  in  certain  baskets  they  have  for  the  purpose,  made 
large  at  the  mouth  and  small  at  the  bottom.  These  are  set  in  the  air  on  a 
ridge  pole,  and  water  being  thrown  on,  vessels  are  placed  under  them  wherein 
it  may  fall;  being  strained  and  placed  on  the  fire,  it  is  boiled  away,  leaving 
salt  at  the  bottom. 

That  salt  was  used  in  the  same  region  was  very  e\ddent,  for 
mention  is  made  -  of  the  skins  in  use  at  that  place: 

Three  Indians  came  the  next  day  with  loads  of  cow-skins,  and  three  days 
afterward  came  twenty  others.  ...  He  brought  a  present  of  many  cow- 
skins,  which  were  found  very  useful;  the  country  being  cold,  they  were  taken 
for  bed  covers,  as  they  were'very  soft  and  the  wool  like  that  of  sheep.  Near 
b}^  to  the  northward,  are  many  cattle. 

4.  For  bodily  health.  The  Indians  used  bear  fat  and  other  oils 
to  rub  the  body  in  order  to  make  the  skin  supple  and  healthy. 
That  they  used  oil  internally  is  not  stated,  but  they  without 
doubt  knew  its  value,  on  account  of  the  large  use  it  had  as  a  food. 
Jones,-^  speaking  of  the  Georgia  Indians,  writes: 

Oglethorpe  shortly  after  the  settlement  of  Savannah,  speaking  of  the 
Indians  food  there,  declares  that  they,  as  the  ancient  Germans  did,  anoint 
with  oil  and  expose  themselves  to  the  sun,  which  occasions  their  skins  to  be 
brown  of  color.  The  men  paint  themselves  of  various  colors,  red,  blue, 
yeUow  and  black. 

5.  In  hair  dressing.  This  was  also  practised,  and  bear  fat 
was  used  largely  for  the  purpose.  Lawson^"*  comments  on  the 
practice  in  1700  by  writing: 

Their  Dress  in  Peace  and  War  is  quite  different.  Besides,  when  they  go 
to  war,  their  Hair  is  comb'd  out  by  the  Women  and  done  over  very  much 
with  Bears  Grease  and  red  Root.   .   . 

6.  For  the  rubbing  and  polishing  of  ornaments  and  implements. 
Although  we  have  no  direct  authority  for  the  statement,  we  may 
be  sure  that  the  ornaments  and  implements  bearing  a  polish  which 

^^  Narratives  of  De  Soto,  New  York,  vol.  i,  pp.  135-136. 
"  Ibid.,  pp.  139-140. 
2' Jones,  op.  cit.,  p.  257. 
2*  Lawson,  loc.  cit. 


182 


AMERICAN  ANTHROPOLOGIST 


[n.s.,  24,  1922 


has  remained  to  this  day  were  poHshed  by  the  use  of  oil  or  grease, 
after  the  shape  of  the  ornament  or  implement  was  secured  by 
rough  grinding  with  other  stones.  An  additional  rubbing  after 
oiling  would  give  the  desired  polish.  In  the  many  examples  of 
finely  polished  hammer  stones,  ceremonial  axes,  gorgets,  and  other 
articles  which  we  have  at  the  present  time,  we  can  be  reasonably 
sure  they  were  polished  in  this  manner.  The  natives  gave  to  their 
bows  the  closest  attention,  for  they  were  their  main  dependence 
in  war  and  in  the  chase.  The  choicest  woods  were  carefully  se- 
lected, shaped,  and  preserved,  and  Joneses  tells  us  that  they  were 
"frequently  anointed  with  bears  grease  to  render  them  flexible 
and  keep  them  from  cracking  and  breaking." 


Yield  of 

Oil  from  Nuts  -^ 

Black  Walnut  Hickory  Ntit 

Cotton  Seed 

Peanuts 

(Juglans 

(Hickoria 

(Upland 

(Runner 

nigra) 

alba) 

variety) 

variety) 

Wt.  in  grams 

531. 

325.5 

5.5 

56.8 

per  50  nuts 

Number  of  nuts 

42 

69 

4100 

511 

to  the  lb. 

Proportion     percent- 

10.26 

19.50 

53.50 

73.15 

age  of  kernels  in 

whole  nut. 

Percentage  of 

50.30 

67.42 

36.25 

46.60 

oil  in  kernels 

Percentage  of  am- 

6.56 

2.17 

6.25 

5.45 

monia  in  kernels 

Percentage  of  pro- 

33.72 

11.16 

32.13 

28.00 

tein  in  kernels 

Available  oil  in  100 

0.625 

1.20 

2.10 

3.88 

lbs.  whole  nuts  (gals.) 

Montgomery,  Ala. 

26  Jones,  op.  cit.,  p.  257. 

2^  Samples  of  both  walnut  and  hickory  nut  oil  were  exhibited.  They  were  produced 
by  extraction  with  a  solvent,  which  in  this  case  was  petroleum  ether.  Methods  in  use 
by  the  natives  could  not  of  course  give  an  oil  of  the  purity  or  appearance  comparable 
to  these  examples.  Samples  of  peanut  oil,  the  native  ground  pea,  and  cotton  seed  oil 
were  shown  for  comparison.  All  of  these  samples  were  of  crude  oil,  and  not  refined  by 
a  chemical  process.  Refined  oil  by  means  of  caustic  of  soda  in  the  usual  way  was 
shown,  as  also  oil  bleached  by  standard  fuUers  earth,  great  improvement  over  the 
crude  oil  being  very  evident.  All  of  these  processes  were  of  course  unknown  to  the 
ancients. 


00030754381 


FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


